State Representative Ritch Workman of Florida (R-Melbourne) is looking out for the little people, he says, by seeking to overturn a law that bans dwarf tossing in bars.

 

The chucking of dwarfs was big in Florida in the 1980s, after carnival worker David Wilson introduced the phenomenon from Australia and allowed patrons to throw him around barrooms. (Wilson had a serious drinking problem too, and later died of alcohol poisoning).

 

The state legislature outlawed dwarf tossing in 1989. For Workman, this restriction needs to go. It’s not about subjecting little people to humiliation, he insists. He said that personally he finds dwarf tossing to be “repulsive and stupid,” but that it is more important to create job opportunities, and get “Big Brother government” out of the way.

 

“All that [the law] does is prevent some dwarfs from getting jobs they would be happy to get,” Workman said. “In this economy, or any economy, why would we want to prevent people from getting gainful employment?”

 

Robert Van Elten, a former president of Little People of America, told the Palm Beach Post that “The people who were thrown were alcoholics with low self-esteem. Many of them were injured. One committed suicide.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Cerabino: Lawmaker Wants State to Reinstate Dwarf Tossing (by Frank Cerabino, Palm Beach Post)

Florida State Rep. Wants To End State Ban On ‘Dwarf-Tossing’ To Increase Employment Opportunities For Little People (by Tanya Somanader, Think Progress)

HB 4063 (Florida House of Representatives)